Category Archives: nablopomo

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: After seeing Children of Men, I was curious about the book that it was based on. Whenever I see a movie that was adapted from a novel (well, a good movie), I’m interested in seeing the original source material. What was changed, what was cut, what was kept, and what bears absolutely no resemblance to the original. I’m not all that far into it…so far, it’s moving pretty slowly…but I’ve decided to save any in-depth comments about either the book or the movie until I’m finished.

I’ve also been reading the collected Mutts comic strips. I *heart* Mutts. How had I never read it before?

Other than that…student essays. Sigh.

Watching: Ok, so my favorite show on the air right now is Heroes. This week’s episode was amazing, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! We learned a great deal about HRG this week, and his relationship with Claire is reminding me a lot of SpyDaddy and Syd; there’s no black and white. He operates in shades of gray, and Monday night, it became clear that he’s motivated by his love for his daughter.

I’m a week behind on both Lost and Veronica Mars. I’ve watched some of MASH season 2 with Rand…Trapper John is less annoying this season. I’m finding it interesting that so many people put MASH on their list of greatest sitcoms ever, because it’s hardly a sitcom. We’ve been watching with the laugh track removed, and I can’t figure out who thought a laugh track was a good idea in the first place. See, I think MASH is a half hour drama with occasional humor. I also think Aaron Sorkin owes a lot of the tone of his shows (Sports Night in particular) to MASH. That’s just my $.02.

Listening: So Rand bought a shiny new iPod, and I’ve taken control of the old one. I haven’t had much time to play with it, so I’ve mostly been listening to the playlists he’s created that I enjoy.

The one I seem to be listening to the most is called Mellowmodern…This is filled with mostly indie musicians, some the current hipster trends, and some more or less unknown stuff that Rand likes. I started out with a mental block against Sufjan Stevens, because my God, could he be any more pretentious? But he’s starting to grow on me a little. Anyway, the list is generally good for mellow background music.

I’d really like to check out the new Dixie Chicks album, and I still want KT Tunstall’s Eye to the Telescope.

And as usual, I’m open to any suggestions. 🙂

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: Still working on Calvin and Hobbes. Finished a YA novel I pulled off of a teacher’s shelf last week called Tangerine. It was a fast and suspenseful read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it…although there were a few things that left me a little cold.

I’m still working on bringing my posts over from the book blog. I noticed that you can import from an RSS feed. Has anyone actually done this?

Soon I’ll have my “books read in 2006” post up. I’ll bet you can hardly wait. 😉

Watching: Ok, I’ve been busy here!

I finished disc 5 of Veronica Mars and anxiously await the final disc of Season 1! I’m dying to talk about this show, so if you’ve seen it, please email me or leave me a comment! That’s the biggest drawback to watching something after the rest of the world has already seen it…

Rand, John and I went to see Borat over the weekend. I thought it was funny, but not that funny.

And I finally watched Pirates of the Carribbean, which we had borrowed from Ron, um, way too long ago. I liked it, but found it a wee bit longer than I think it needed to be.

I thought last week’s episode of The Office was great. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

And finally…Studio 60. It may have been a bit of a bumpy ride getting there, but good Lord, was the Christmas episode amazing. It was everything that is good about Aaron Sorkin. I was weeping and cheering by the end of the episode. I’ll be on this ride for as long as NBC will let me. 🙂

OH! And I nearly forgot…we got the first disc of SNL: Season 1 from Netflix. Interesting. The second episode might as well have been called Paul Simon and friends Live. 😉 I don’t get the Muppets. We’ve seen the first three episodes, and so far, I have to say John Belushi’s performance as Joe Cocker is the shining moment. I was practically rolling on the floor by the end. 😉

Listening: I’m going to take this opportunity to pimp what may just be my favorite Christmas album:

It’s not a traditional “Christmas”…with the exception of Silent Night, all of the tracks are original songs. But they are amazing songs. “First Snow of the Year” is ridiculously catchy. “Three Generations” is a happy and yet wistful tune…the line “three generations are only together for so long” never fails to bring a tear…and the love songs–Merry Christmas (I Love You) and A House or Maybe a Boat are my favorites–are sweet and achingly romantic.

Check it out. You won’t be sorry. 🙂

Reading, watching, listening

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So, I’ve decided this is going to be a regular Monday feature.

Reading: As most of you know, I haven’t been doing much novel reading, mostly due to the fact that I spent the past month writing a novel of my own. (more of my thoughts on NaNoWriMo and the fruits of my labor to come soon) Additionally, it was the month of reading submissions for the December issue of Toasted Cheese, up now! I think it’s a pretty strong issue, and the editorial staff was in very solid agreement about our picks this time.

Apart from that, I’ve been reading collections of Calvin and Hobbes strips, which I’m enjoying very much.

I’ve added a couple of things to the “to-read” pile…The Awakening, so we can get on that book club thing, and I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader, which I picked up used for under $5 with shipping. Hardcover, even. 😉

Watching: I am continuing to adore Heroes…we’ve got the last episode before it goes on hiatus tonight! I admit, I’m a little skeptical about how this whole Sylar thing is going to play out…last week’s episode left me going, the-wha?

ETA: I forgot to mention my favorite moment in last week’s episode. Hiro, upon discovering that he has sent himself 6 months into the past, says “Great Scott!” hee.

Got the second disc of Veronica Mars S1 last week. I just watched episode 5. It made me cry a little. I *heart* this show.

Rand and I are working our way toward catching up on Studio 60…we watched up to The Wrap Party last night, and I thought it was a fantastic episode. Yay for the Sorkin! Now that the characters and issues have been introduced, we really get to see some of the actors shine. I’m really enjoying the Christine Lahti character, who seems to occupy the same space as Felicity Huffman on Sports Night and Allison Janney on The West Wing. They have the same vibe, the same speech rhythms, and even a sort of similar look.

And in a blast from the past, Rand picked up a DVD of the first season of Night Court. I did love me some Night Court…the pilot episode was kind of scary, but the show quickly got on track. I remember why I liked it. 🙂

Listening: John Denver and the Muppets, A Christmas Together. Who can hear the Twelve Days of Christmas without thinking of the Muppets?

Jellyfish, Spilt Milk. I’ve heard much of this before, on Rand’s iPod, but I took the CD to listen to in the car. I really enjoy The Ghost at Number one, and I think New Mistake was the other one that really stood out when I listened.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: Just finished The Fourth Bear…brief comments over at the places i go

Watching: Went to see Little Miss Sunshine last night. Despite what Entertainment Weekly had to say (they didn’t like it much), I thought it was great. Steve Carell was fantastic in an understated (but still very funny) role. The scenes at the end, at the pageant, were horrifying, as I suspect they were meant to be. My two favorite moments involved Olive and her brother Dwayne: “Go hug mom” and “Okay. Let’s go.”

Watched the first episode of Deadwood, from Netflix. Not sure I’m completely sold yet…anyone want to talk me into it?

Working through season five of The West Wing. I finally got to see The Supremes in its entirety, which was a fantastic episode. It was definitely rocky without Sorkin, but there are a few moments of greatness in this season.

Also watched the pilot for Kidnapped. Great cast, interesting premise, but I’m not sure I want to invest the time.

Listening: Hmm…what am I listening to these days? I’ve gotten a taste of The Raconteurs (read jennimi’s post about them) and I’ve been enjoying that, despite never having been a fan of the White Stripes.

Hope everyone’s having a good weekend!